Special edition: Every crisis is political - redefining humanitarian response

The international aid system has long operated on the ideal of "neutrality," but our latest episode of This Week in Global Development, sponsored by the Urgent Action Sister Funds, challenges this deeply embedded notion.

Devex Executive Editor and Executive Vice President Kate Warren is joined by the Urgent Action Sister Funds’ Jean Kemitare and Johnny Tohme, as well as Lucy Martin of the Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York, for the conversation. Over the course of the episode, our guests discuss the idea that no crisis happens in a vacuum. Instead, crises are shaped by history, power dynamics, and the strategic allocation of resources. By pretending aid is neutral, the current system risks repeating the same patterns that leave communities vulnerable in the first place.

The centerpiece of the discussion is the Feminist Crisis Response Model, a flagship research initiative that highlights how grassroots feminist movements are uniquely equipped to navigate the entire "crisis continuum" — from prevention and survival to long-term transformation. Unlike traditional models that treat crises as isolated events to be managed, the feminist lens views them as visible ruptures of long-term structural issues such as patriarchy, colonialism, and economic injustice. This approach shifts the center of gravity from large external institutions to local partners who are already embedded in their communities and accountable to them.

By recognizing that "every crisis is political," the model encourages donors to move beyond simple quantifiable metrics, such as the number of aid parcels delivered, and instead invest in intangible yet critical resources such as community care, solidarity, and structural systemic change. Listen to this episode of This Week in Global Development to hear the whole discussion.

Explore the report that fully explicates the Feminist Crisis Response Model: “Resourcing Strategies in an Age of Permacrisis: Critical Lessons from Feminist Philanthropy" - https://feministcrisisresponse.org/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnBQe3qpHdPMB4gBlhz7ORmPBUBI61wUJR-pKhqEO7vQUJs36us-nFPvQpIZU_aem_oe4R1ClbuCTgE1cZHz5Geg.

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